1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric junction box mounted for example to a motor vehicle as a moving body. The present invention also relates to a power supply device having the above-described electric junction box.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, for example in an electric vehicle propelled by an electric motor or a hybrid vehicle propelled by a combination of an internal-combustion engine and an electric motor, various power supply devices are applied as a power supply device for the electric motor. The power supply device of this kind is provided with a battery assembly having a plurality of batteries connected to each other in series and an electric junction box which outputs electric power, the electric power being temporary supplied from the battery assembly, to an inverter as external electric equipment via a relay (refer for example to Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-96861 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-311755).
The above-described electric junction box includes component mounting portions to which relays (as electric components) are mounted, a box main body having a connector engagement portion with which a connector of a wire harness wired in the vehicle is engaged, the wire harness being connected to various electric equipment, and a wiring unit received inside of the box main body and electrically connecting the relays and the connector and such according to a predetermined pattern.
The box main body includes a lower case (as a case member) and an upper case (as a case member) attached to the lower case and having the component mounting portions and the connector engagement portion. The lower case and the upper case are attached to each other in an overlapping relationship so as to receive thereinside the wiring unit.
The wiring unit includes a plurality of bus bars made of conductive metal. The bus bar is constituted of conductive metal that has been subjected to punching and bending and formed into a band-plate-like shape having a predetermined pattern. Some of the bus bars of the plurality of bus bars include a terminal portion to be positioned inside of the connector engagement portion. Furthermore, some of the bus bars of the plurality of bus bars include an electric power supply portion connecting to the battery assembly to be supplied with electric power therefrom.
The above-described electric junction box is assembled such that the wiring unit is received inside of the box main body. Then the connector is engaged with the connector engagement portion and the relays are mounted to the component mounting portions. The assembled electric junction box is then mounted to the battery assembly to be mounted to the vehicle.